Tour de Missouri (and Surrounding States)

So ... blah, blah, blah, we're bad at blogging, blah, blah, blah ... and here's what we've been doing this summer:

(in reverse order ...)

Our most recent trip was to Indianapolis. We were helping out at a Youth Workers Conference at the Westin in downtown Indy (which rocked! We were brainstorming to find SOME way to take the bed from our room and haul it to our apartment.) The last day of the conference was our One Year Anniversary (cue trumpet fanfare), so we got to hang out downtown, take a stroll down the Canal Walk, and eat at the Weber Grill before driving home. After we spent a few days in the city, we decided that we REALLY like Indy.

Us on the canal walk.

We almost convinced ourselves to ride the gondola or rent a paddle boat, but ended up just watching instead. We DID, however, rent a paddle boat in Forest Park a few days later ... our "Anniversary Day of Fun" - which also included rollerblading, the fastest walk through of the St. Louis History Museum in history, reading in the park, and dinner at Macaroni Grill. But (sad!) I guess we didn't take any pictures that day...

For the 4th the whole Liefer family went to Hannibal for the world-famous Tom Sawyer Days. Kelly had never been there before, and I was young the last time we went. Of course, we went to the museums, saw the parade, watched 7th graders compete to be Tom and Becky for the year (which is apparently a BIG DEAL in Hannibal...), and saw the whitewashing contest.

Kelly and Sam. I should have posted a picture I took with this guy next to a sign that read, "NOTICE: The City of Hannibal does not hire or endorse impersonators of Mark Twain."

Trying to have some fun at the Craft Fair. (What holiday with the Liefers would be complete without a craft fair??)


We found out that the whitewashing contest has a whole line of strategy to it ... where you place the bucket, how much fence you really have to cover. They were judged on speed, coverage, and neatness. (Wow.)

A few days before the 4th, Melissa, Kelly, and I grabbed free seats at the Muny to see ... (I can't believe I'm admitting this) High School Musical: Live!

Here's Kelly hiking at Lone Elk Park ... along with two of the 6ish elk we saw while we hiked.

And a few days before hiking, we spent an afternoon at the Science Center (this summer we're trying to do EVERYTHING Forest Park has to offer)

Here's a picture of B-Utiful Kelly Jo the first time we went to the Muny this summer -- to see The Producers (thanks to U. Steve!).

Early in the summer we hit up a festival in downtown St. Charles. I don't remember what it was called, but we were there! And there was music!

Of course we've done lots of other fun things this summer ... like going to Shakespeare in the Park to see King Richard III ("My horse! My horse!") And we spent a few days in Branson with WHOLE Gronewald family ... which I guess I don't have pictures of? Maybe Kelly can post some later :-)